Your Love is the Highest
by Kamakaze Kheri
Summary: She wasn't supposed to accept that coveted spot as the Champion. She was too young, too naive... Too good.  For the PokePrompts Holiday Fic Exchange.  Dawn/Volkner


i.

She floats through life like it's a dream after she becomes champion. There's no other place for her, she's risen so high that she can only walks among the stars. That's how Volkner sees it, at least. She's so high above him that he chokes on his words, the lack of oxygen sucking them from him like a vacuum.

They meet at the lighthouse one day and Volkner sees the change in her. She used to be so light-hearted and free-spirited, but now she is just an empty shell. She used to glitter like gold, shine brighter than the sun, but she's cold now, so very cold.

But he was cold too. Always, like a piece of chiselled stone, without a light glowing in his soul. He was strong and silent and a beacon to guide her through her most troubling of times. Or at least, that's how Dawn saw it.

"You've changed," he says to her, sipping on his coffee. He gazes at her with electric blue eyes, making Dawn shiver. She averts her own gaze, watching water lap against the shore far below them.

"You haven't," she says, finding her voice. "You're no different than when I left."

"Sorry to disappoint," Volkner replies. "Not everyone has been catapulted into stardom like you."

They fall into an uncomfortable silence because ishe/i knows that it's what he wants most and ihe/iknows that it's what she wants the least. If she could switch the roles, she would, in a heartbeat.

She wasn't supposed to leave him, that's what he thought. She wasn't supposed to accept that coveted spot as the Champion. She was too young, too naive...

Too good.

But he knew as well as anyone that she was not a bird to be caged. There were no bars that could hold her back from reaching new heights and he had tried.

"I can see that this conversation is going nowhere, really," she informs him abruptly. She stands, her chair scraping against the hardwood floor of the lighthouse's cafe and exits, the bell on the door clanging behind her.

ii.

In all honesty, he's not that concerned about Dawn anymore. He sees how it is now. She's too high above him now. A legend. A champion.

What he will not admit to himself is of what he's become.

Jealous.

He's so jealous of her because ihe/i should be champion. iHe/i should be the one that can flit around aimlessly like a bird as he waits for challengers.

She visits him on Christmas of that year, perches anxiously on the edge of his sofa as he brings them some tea. "You're really letting yourself go," she tells him, sipping lightly and crossing her creamy white legs. "I don't even know you anymore."

After she's gone, he shouts. He cries out in anger and throws her tea cup at the wall, watching it shatter into a million pieces. He punches a hole through his cupboard and later pays for it by sitting in the emergency room, his Raichu pacing nervously in front of him, sparks flying dangerously from his cheeks.

It's then that he realizes that only she would tell him the truth because only his enemies were brave enough to do so. And his only enemies were those who were stronger than him.

iii.

She battles all sorts of people as the champion. She faces Barry, her long-time friend, and asks him if she's changed much. He shakes his head.

"Not too much," he replies. "I mean, you're the champion obviously, but if you're late for lunch with me tomorrow I'm going to have to fine you a million dollars!" She laughs as he exits the arena, the weight of his loss weighing on her shoulders.

She battles another boy, named Wally, with unruly green hair and Pokemon from a region she has never ventured to. It makes things harder, but she defeats him nonetheless. "You're pretty good, Wally," she says, shaking his hand. "You're going places."

"Thanks," Wally replies, but she sees something flash in those ruby coloured eyes of his.

Pity.

After he's gone, she hurries over to the computer and looks him up on the Trainer Log. There are currently twelve Wally's registered in all the different leagues all over the world and it doesn't take Dawn long to find the one she is looking for.

She scans the page quickly. Born in Petalburg Town, Hoenn. Moved to Verdanturf Town, Hoenn due to illness. Ran away to begin his Pokemon journey.

She understands in that moment, why he looked at her like that. He too, had once been a bird longing to stretch his wings. So he had escaped, while she was still caged. She let out a long breath and glances at her day planner sitting next to her. The circled lunch date with Barry seems all the more important now.

iv.

She picks idly at her salad with her fork, turning over pieces of lettuce and croutons as Barry bites into a cheeseburger. They've done a lot of catching up already and now all that's left is for her to come out and say the thought that's been weighing down on her chest.

But she can't just yet.

Because he tells her of his training schedule near Stark Mountain, the new friends he's made, the new Pokemon he's caught. He tells her about his plans to visit the faraway region of Kanto and how he's going to challenge the league there.

Barry is as free a bird as she is, and to clip his wings, confine him to that lonely room in the heavens, burns her from the inside out.

But it's burning her anyway.

They eat in silence for a moment, the sounds of the kitchen far behind them, as if through a wall of water. She thinks she's going to explode, so she throws it out in the open, gets it off her chest.

"Do you want to be the champion?"

He keeps eating like he hasn't heard her, but she knows he has by the way his eyes darken.

"Not anymore," he replies. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to be the champion either," she says, noting the somewhat hysterical tone in her own voice.

He is quiet for a moment, weighing his answer carefully before he replies. "I don't want that life, Dawn, for the same reason that you don't want it."

"I can't lose to just anyone. The whole of Sinnoh knows you're a skilled trainer, Barry. If I lose to you, they'll accept it."

He stands so abruptly that his chair falls over and people stare. "And what about me after?" he asks, anger flashing red hot in his eyes. "What about imy/i reputation? As soon as I become champion, I'll just want to throw it away again. The world will see me as a joke, someone who just got lucky."

She feels the shame burn in the pit of her stomach, knows that drawing this card could hurt their friendship and rip them like the seam of a pant, stitch by stitch.

"If you really cared, Barry, you'd do it anyway," she answers softly.

v.

She is a fallen star by the next evening. Barry comes in as the last competitor, a grim line replacing the usual excited smile. He used to only stop by for fun little matches, giving her a taste of his power. Now, they were battling for real.

But it wasn't really ifor real/i and they both knew it. In the end, he would become the champion.

She congratulates him but he won't meet her eyes, turning his head away as they shake hands and she leaves the Sinnoh League building with her head hung. She wouldn't be too surprised if he never speaks to her again.

Snow falls lightly when she makes it to Sunnyshore and she realizes, she doesn't have a home. She's tempted to call Volkner, but decides to just rent a hotel room; she has enough money for it.

vi.

She waits three days before calling the gym, sure that by now he would know. Therefore, when a woman's voice echoes down the line, she's quite shocked.

"Is Volkner available?" she asks, twisting a lock of raven black hair around a finger.

"Naw, he took a vacation," the girl replies. Dawn can tell she's chewing gum by the light smacking on the other end, but ignores it as the girl continues on. "Took an indefinite leave to go visit a mate in Johto. Jasmine or something."

Dawn hangs up and sits dejectedly on the bed in her hotel room. She knows Jasmine, knows that she's a steel-type gym leader in the Johto region and that she and Volkner were quite good friends. The silence hangs heavily in the room before she stands again, unsure of her plan but willing to try it anyway.

vii.

Olivine City is a pretty little beach town that could be Sunnyshore's younger, less technological sibling. She has no trouble navigating the town and soon finds herself at the gym.

"Is Jasmine in?" she asks the attendant at the door. When he nods in response, she ploughs on. "May I speak to her?"

"Only if you battle her," the man replies. The challenger rolls her eyes, plucks a Poke Ball off her belt and heads into the gym.

Ten minutes, three defeated gym trainees and a badge later, she gets her audience with Jasmine.

"You're a friend of Volkner's?" the gym leader asks politely. Dawn can't tell if she's curious or disgruntled so she simply nods.

"Do you happen to know where I might find him?" she asks. "I heard from his gym that he came out here for a vacation." She realizes after she's said it that it makes her sound needy, like a lost puppy without a home. It makes her seem as young as she is, and not a lovely young woman like Jasmine.

"He likes to spend time around the beach and the lighthouse," Jasmine replies. "Training and helping to keep Amphy healthy. You can try there."

"Thanks," Dawn says. She stands, feeling the badge in her pocket weighing her down like a ton of bricks. "See you around."

viii.

Just as Jasmine had said, Volkner is at the beach when she finds him. He's just as perfect as ever and when she touches his shoulder, she finds he's just as cold as ever, like the marble of the grand hall back at the league. When he turns, however, his features are softer, moulded into something more kind.

"What changed?" he asks when they lock eyes.

"Everything," she whispers back. She drops her hand back to her side and feels the air rush between them, filling the space.

"I'm not ready yet," he admits. "Someday, but not now."

She nods with a sad smile and moves to step away before he presses his lips to hers quickly before letting her go, watching her fly like a bird.

vix.

The citizens of Olivine City have long gotten over the fact that half their night is bathed in the light from the lighthouse, but Dawn and Volkner have not. He sits in the lighthouse and stares out across the beach, watching a lone figure dance across the sand in the darkness.

She is every bit graceful and beautiful as strong and powerful, and it reminds him why she was champion for so long, why she was such a igood/i champion. He wonders if she gave it all up because she didn't want it or because ihe/i didn't want it.

The light from the lighthouse washes over her briefly and he swears he sees her sparkle, her entire figure glow for just a moment.

Perhaps she was a fallen star, but she still glittered like gold.


End file.
